The glowing emblem and the large emblem, while the same, are also not the same. Bear with me here. The large emblem is nothing new to MBZ. A large emblem has been used in place of the hood ornament on some Mercs for a few decades now. The glowing emblem, which you and I dislike, is fairly new. I've only seen a few at night in the wild (for obvious reasons), but I believe they were CLAs. A totally useless vehicle.
I wouldn't be surprised if other manufacturers begin doing things like this. I don't see the point, apart from screaming to the world "I was too cheap to get the driver assistance package but I paid $650 for this neat-o light that makes me look like a jackass!"
I never said they were the same. Though apparently there are aftermarket glowing logos you can get. These seem to be much brighter than the far more subtle OEM option. It seems like a stupid waste of $650 though and looks onbnoxious. I think the Mercedes logo carries enough weight, the illumination is excessive.
The standard grill emblem isn’t bad. I think I prefer the ornament however the grills on the newer models with the ornament I don’t think look particularly good. I miss the days of the W124, W210, and W211. The W212 is okay but never was much in love with the interior or the angular headlights. The W213 is beautiful, especially with the AMG grill. It’s up there on my list of cars to buy but the price is a bit outrageous (especially since I don’t really want the 2.0T E300). My dad had an E300 TurboDiesel back in the day- that wasn’t such an iconic car- kind of the last real Mercedes (though debatably you could say the W124 E was really the last of the great).
The new Mercedes just don’t carry quite the same elegance that they did in their former years. Mercedes historically seems to focus on top down engineering (Building the S class and watering it down the the C- leaving the C-Class with much to be desired). BMW seems to have gone the opposite direction working from the 3 to 7.
Thankfully the new C-Class is decent, far better than the previous generations. My friend just bought a C300 4Matic, but it’s build quality is quite disappointing- misaligned trim, squeaks and rattles, etc. Not what I would expect from a $45,000 or whatever car. On the other hand the 3-Series has become huge (as big, if not bigger than my E60 535). It makes my dad’s IS350 IS3 look like an MG or something.
Meanwhile I feel like the A4 has been left in the dark for ages. Talk about a fairly dated car. On a related note, a friend of mine recently totaled his 2015 Passat, which is an awful car compared to the legendary B5.5 Passat and even the B6/B7 Passat. In those days the Passat nearly was in the Volvo/Saab realm. The Phaeton and Touareg were fantastic, it’s a shame VW decided to kill off their premium approach in exchange for trying to become a mass market affordable car.
Interestingly, the Passat/CC was one of the last family cars to offer AWD (not to mention the awesome W8 engine option). I guess most buyers have moved on to the SUV/CUV market now that gas prices are down. Evidently the next generation Nissan Altima will be offering AWD, so that might stir things up a little. I think the only other options at this point are the Ford Fusion/Taurus and somewhat controversial Subaru Impreza/Legacy. I suppose you might be able to add the TSX to that list.
One for the reasons my GF went with the S60 T6 AWD was that it’s one of the few, reasonably affordable to buy and maintain, premium sedans with AWD. It’s a 2013, purchased for pennies on the dollar CPO in 2014 with 33k. I think she has about 45k on it now. Every time I take it in for service they harass me to trade it in for a new S60- which is atrociously dated at his point.
My dad bought the IS350 AWD (3IS) as his commuter car. AWD (or def not RWD) is a must in New England. Personally I still think he should have gone with he GS350- more room, more comfort, basically the same fuel economy, no crazy tire setups, similar cost, but he didn’t want something that big when his other car is a 2012 Range Rover Sport. I suppose the TSX was an option but A. The quality/refinement/tech isn’t quite there and B. They’re still using timing belts- not ideal for someone driving 40k/year.
I need to make a decision on a car- X3, X60 (Maybe XC90, 5-Series (maybe 3-Series), and E-Class are all up there. Maybe the F-Pace. I’d prefer a Touareg TDI, subtle yet classy, but it’s reached its EOL and the V6 option sucks. BMW is a bit flashier than I prefer, Volvo’s reliability has ranked (my mom also had a 2015 XC70 T6 that was a lemon), and the Jaguar brand is a bit weird, a bit too flashy, and the F-Pace does is a good car, but not outstanding for its price.
My dad says he wants to replace the RRS in the next year or two. either with a Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, or Disco5 - hopefully with the TD6 now that it’s available. Or maybe a Land Cruiser if they’re still available then as he’s loved his couple LC’s. His current RRS is the 5.0 V8 HSS LUX, purchased as a demo with several thousand miles, now with like 140k! It’s actually been surprisingly reliable compared to our previous Rovers (Disco, Disco II, RR Classic, and P38 Range). He also wants a Tacoma but my “mom won’t let him” (and I don’t think money is an issue).
My sister should be replacing her Rav4 in the next year or so- looking for a higher end midsize SUV. She’s pretty picky though.
And now that my aunt has purchased a 2018 MDX, I think my mom feels obligated to buy a new car to replace her 2015 Allroad. Keeping up with the Joneses so to speak. I suppose she already has 86,000 miles or something crazy.
My GF’s mom has a 2012-13 (?- preface-lift with the ugly grill) GX460 with over 140k- but nothing has even broken on it. So she’s also looking for a new car. I think an XC90 would fit her well as they also have a Model S 90D (or 100D, I always forget- I think 90), J100 Land Cruiser, and LR Defender.
Maybe we can work out some sort of group but if we can all agree to buy from the same dealer
